Car-door seal.



W. V. GOODNOW.

CAR DOOR SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY14.1914.

Patented Feb. 13,1917.

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WILLIAM V. GOODNOW, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

can-noon SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

Application filed May 14, 1914. Serial No. 838,540.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, TILLIAM V. Goonnow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Seals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car door seals, and has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive device of this character which may be very conveniently applied, and which will indicate in a very clear and positive manner that the device has been tampered with, and one which will prevent the opening of the seal and the returning of it to an apparent original condition.

In carrying out this invention, it is proposed to have all of the parts of the device entirely exposed, so that no part thereof can be concealed in any attempt to return the seal to its apparent original condition after having been tampered with.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the drawings, and particularly set forth in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details may bemade, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a perspective view of a car door seal embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the shackle member.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the lock member.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view of the shackle showing a modification.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail longitudinal sectional view taken through the legs of the shackle and the lock.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each of the figures of the drawing.

In the present embodiment of my invention, there is a shackle and a lock. As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the shackle congible material, such that it will readily break under any excessive strains to which it may be subjected in any attempt to open the seal.

The body of the shackle, from the crosshead 2 to its opposite end, has the same cross-sectional dimensions throughout, so that the free end portion thereof, designated 6, may be passed through one of the slits or slots in the lock, and the latter moved to a position adjacent the cross-head '2. There after, a projection or shoulder is formed upon the shackle adjacent the lock, whereby the latter will be prevented from being accidentally displaced along the shackle by means of the cross-head 2 at one side and the shoulder or projection at the other side of the look. This shoulder or projection may have various forms, a preferred form being a transverse rib- 7 bent or crimped in the shackle. Instead of a single rib or shoulder, one or more projections 8 may be struck up in the shackle, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. This is the condition in which the seal is put upon the market, except that the initials, the name or the abbreviation of the name of a railroad may be struck up upon the cross-head.

In use, the free end of the shackle is passed or threaded through the pin or other parts of the door latch and afterward passed through the other of the two 'slits or slots in the lock, until a considerable portion of the free end of the shackle projects beyond the headed end thereof, and this projecting end portion of the shackle is then subjected to the action of a sealing press so as to stamp up upon the shackle suitable letters, figures entirely across the shackle and intersect its opposite edges, thereby to form outstanding shoulders, abutments or obstructions of such a size as will not pass through the slit or slot in the frangible lock.

lVhen the seal is in use, any attempt to withdraw the free end of the shackle through the lock will result in either one or both of two things. It will be remembered that the lock is made of frangible material,

' so that any attempt to pry open either of the slits or slots in the lock will result in the breaking of the lock, which will clearly indicate that the seal has been tampered with. If any attempt is made to forcibly withdraw the free end of the shackle through the slot, the frangible lock will become broken, and if it were possible to so manipulate the shackle and the look as to withdraw the shackle from the lock, the characters 9 would be so mutflated as to clearly indicate that the seal had been tampered with. Moreover, it would be necessary to again force the free end of the shackle back through the slit in the lock, which would result in the breaking of the lock, or in further mutilating the characters.

Inasmuch as there are no concealed parts, any mutilation of any of the parts will always be discernible, and therefore it is impossible to remove the seal and return it to its original condition without clearly indicating that the seal has been tampered with.

In order to add to the ease with which the lock may be broken under any attempt to forcibly withdraw the shackle, the slits or slots should be located relatively close to the opposite edges of the look so as to have a relatively thin bar between each slit and the adjacent edge of the lock.

Besides being brittle and easily broken by reason of any attempt to pry open either of the slots or slits, the lock is also very hard, so as to prevent enlarging of the slits or slots by filing, cutting or otherwise without breaking the lock.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A seal of the character described comprising a shackle and a lock therefor having a pair of slits, said shackle consisting of a strip of foldable material threaded through one of the slits and provided with projections at opposite sides of the lock to prevent displacement thereof, said shackle being adapted to be folded intermediate of its ends and one of its ends passed through the other slit in the-lock, the lock being in the form of a thin metal plate with the slits adja cent opposite edges thereof and the ends of the slits terminating adjacent the other opposite edges of the plate, said plate being brittle so as to prevent prying open of the slits without rupturing the plate, and said plate also having a hardness to prevent enlarging of the slits by cutting, filing or otherwise without breaking the plate.

2. A seal of the character described comprising a shackle and a lock therefor having a pair of substantially parallel slits, said shackle consisting of a strip of foldable material having a lateral enlargement located at one end thereof and projecting at opposite sides of the strip in the plane of the strip, said shackle being received through one of the slits of the lock said lock disposed adjacent the lateral enlargement of the shackle, said shackle being provided with a shoulder or projection adjacent to and at the other side of the lock, said lock lying between the enlargement and the projection or shoulder to prevent displacement of the lock, and the free end of the shackle being adapted to be passed through the other slit in the lock.

3. A seal of the character described comprising a shackle and a lock therefor having a pair of slits, said shackle consisting of a strip of foldable material and adapted to have its ends'passed through the respective slits in the lock, said lock consisting of a thin metal plate with the slits located adjacent opposite edges thereof and the ends of therslits terminating adjacent the other opposite edges of the lock,and said lock being brittle so as to prevent prying open of the slits without rupturing the lock, and said lock also having a hardness to prevent enlarging of the slits by cutting, filing or otherwise without breaking the lock.

4:. A seal of the character described comprising a shackle and a lock therefor, the lock being in the form of a plate having a pair of substantially parallel slits therein, the shackle being a metallic blank in the form of a long narrow strip of a width to pass through the slits of the lock, one end of the blank having an integral enlargement projecting laterally of the body of the strip and in the plane thereof, and the other end portion of the blank being free from projections and capable of being thrust through the slots in the plate.

5. A seal of the character described comprising a T-shaped shackle and a lock-plate,

the lock-plate having a pair of substantially parallel slits therein,'the shank portion of the shackle being free from projections, and of a width to be passed through the slits of the locking plate. I

6. A seal of the character described comprising a shackle and a lock therefor having a pair of substantially parallel slits therein, the shackle being a metallic blank in the form of a long narrow strip of a width to pass through the respective slits of the lock, the end portions of the shackle extending through the respective slits in the lock, one In testimony whereof I aflix my signature end portion of the shackle having projecin presence of two Witnesses.

tions at opposite sides of and adjacent the lock to prevent displacement of the lock, WILLIAM GOODNOW' 1 and the other end portion of the shackle be- Witnesses:

ing adapted to receive an impression from H. S. SHEPARD, a seal press. Y W. M. HART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

